The Masterpiece Songtext
von Johnny Cash

There was an old stone-cutter
Who lived in a cabin on the mountain side
And the old stone-cutter knew it won′t be long before he died
And all around his cabin were statues the man had made
Statues that the buyers said were all of a mediocre grade

With his calloused hands he lit a lamp
And laid down his head on his handmade table
And he softly whispered
"Lord I'm old and shaky and I′m hardly able
But give me strenght and wisdom
And give me a week at least
And I'll climb up to the top of this mountain
And chisel out a masterpiece"

The very next morning he felt new strenght
And he took his brand new hammer and the sharpest chisel
He began to climb the mountain
His old feet slipping in the freezing dizzle


When he finally reached the top
He shouted to a world that didn't hear
"I′ll carve my masterpiece out of this marble boulder here"
So the hammer beat the chisel
And he hammered ′til an image grew
Then he stopped to look it over
To appraise his work when he was through

It was a boy carrying a crippled boy
And the old man said, "It isn't my masterpiece
I′ll call it charity and then a masterpiece of mine will be"
So the hammer beat the chisel
'Til another image in a marbel grew
Then the wind began to blowing
And he sat and rested when he was through

It was the image of a mother holding her child
He said, "This is love as the world would know
But it isn′t my masterpiece"
And he began again as it began to snow

The hammer beat the chisel
As the snow fell harder and the wind grew and grew
He fell to his knees holding a stone
And he threw down his hammer and his chisel too

He lay frozen face down in the snow
But one hand was held for the world to see
Cut in the marble was his masterpice
Three neatly carved letters: G O D